December 1995 WCW Shows
Ric Flair, Sting, and Lex Luger vie for Randy Savage's World Title. WCW & New Japan clash in the World Cup of Wrestling. Follow along show by show!
It’s December 1995 and WCW’s working relationship with New Japan Pro Wrestling is becoming more of a focal point. Randy Savage is the World Champion coming out of World War 3 but problems persist among the top guys. Plus, a revitalized Ric Flair re-enters the World Title picture. Follow along with my comments from going through each show.
Get caught up on the 1995 WCW Journey.
Current Champions
WCW World Heavyweight Champion: Randy Savage
WCW United States Champion: Kensuke Sasaki
WCW World Tag Team Champions: Harlem Heat
WCW World Television Champion: Johnny B. Badd
December 2, 1995 WCW Worldwide
Tony & Bobby talking World Cup of Wrestling
Lex Luger squash
Dean Malenko interview with Gene. Following in his fathers footsteps. WCW has some of the best wrestlers
Kurasawa squash
Meng squash. Another pull apart brawl with Kurasawa
Nasty Boys v Super Assassins w/Col Parker. Ok match. Warlord and Barbarian working very generic under masks. Get the win
American Males v Shinjiro Otani & Koji Kanemoto (NJPW). Good match. Otani looks really good. Koji finishes Riggs with kneebar.
December 2, 1995 WCW Pro
Johnny B Badd squash
Sonny Onoo issues challenge for World Cup of Wrestling - WCW vs New Japan
Shinjiro Otani & Koji Kanemoto squash. Wild commentary
Chris Benoit squash
Tony sitdown with Teddy Long. Scouting.
Mr Saito squash
Eddie Guerrero v Johnny Swinger. Solid. Eddie wins. Dusty’s hilarious.
December 2, 1995 WCW Saturday Night
Mr. JL v The Gambler. Solid match. Jerry back under the mask. Gambler is very Arn Anderson like. JL wins with a top rope DDT.
Scott Norton squash
Dean Malenko v Todd Morton. Malenko showcase using kneebar as finish.
Sting v Kurasawa. Ok. Sting talks about upcoming Triangle Match. Can’t stand Flair. Scorpion.
Teddy Long promo
American Males v Barrio Brothers. Solid. Males win.
One Man Gang squash
VK Wallstreet v Jim Duggan. Solid grudge match between two old pros. Work hard again with each other. VK tries to use the ropes but Duggan wins with rollup. VK tapes Duggan to the ropes and beats the hell out of him! Good beatdown. I’m surprised at how much I like this ongoing rivalry.
Randy Savage promo on facing Luger on Nitro. Likes it like that. Doesn't like Lex. Betting on himself.
December 3, 1995 WCW Main Event
Diamond Dallas Page v Joey Maggs. Fun match where Maggs almost gets the upset. Max Muscle screws up and Maggs wins by countout!! Teddy Long celebrates. DDP beats up Max after and gives him a Diamond Cutter on the floor.
December 4, 1995 WCW Prime
Arn Anderson & Brian Pillman squash
December 4, 1995 WCW Nitro #14 - Phoenix, AZ
Announcers hype up Savage v Luger tonight. Implications on triangle match at Starrcade. Hogan and Giant on probation.
WCW World Tag Team Titles Harlem Heat (c) vs. American Males. Solid. Males have better gear now. Parker gives Sherri a ring and they leave together. Heat win clean.
Gene interviews Lex Luger & Sting on Starrcade Triangle Match. What's the story? Sting calls him his best friend for ten years. Could be them for the World Title. Lex says he'll become World Champ tonight.
Sting vs. Kurasawa. Ok. Quick win for Sting with Scorpion. He’s on a roll.
WCWSN: Pillman & Benoit, Badd v Disco, Eddie v Bubba
The Giant vs. Scott Norton. Not as much fun as you’d want. Giant’s selling is really bad here. Wins with choke slam. Bischoff promoting Hogan and Sting versus Flair and Arn next week.
Gene interviews Ric Flair & Charles Barkley. Hilarious outfit on Barkley. Fun little bit of business. Made Nitro look big
WCW World Heavyweight Title Randy Savage (c) vs. Lex Luger. Decent. Macho still has the injured arm. Bischoff pushing the overrun. Work pretty hard here. Savage goes after Luger’s arm in return. Good intensity. Lex sells the arm well. Ref bump. Macho hits the elbow. Flair comes in to KO Savage. Hogan goes after Flair. DQ. Sting comes in and Hogan hits him by mistake. Sting and Hogan go face to face. Savage trying to get in the middle. Gene gets a word. Hogan’s not worried about his probation. Wants to know the deal with Luger. Sting is on their side. Trying to straighten Lex out. Turns it around on them. Savage says he was right on the money with Luger. Sting and Hogan shake hands. They all do a good job with this stuff.
Decent show but pretty light on important stuff. Also missing that one really good match.
December 9, 1995 WCW Worldwide
Sting squash
Alex Wright interview on World Cup. Facing Koji Kanemoto.
Bunkhouse Buck & Dick Slater v Scott & Steve Armstrong. Stud Stable squash.
Diamond Dallas squash
DUNGEON OF DOOM: Hugh Morrus joins. Laughing man. Dated since Hogan switched back to red and yellow already
Hugh Morrus squash
Lex Luger interview with Gene on Starrcade. Facing Chono then Triangle Match and the winner faces Savage. Everything circles on him. Luger seems to be having fun here
Chris Benoit squash.
WCW World Tag Team Titles Harlem Heat v Blue Bloods. Decent short match. Heat win.
December 9, 1995 WCW Saturday Night
Blue Bloods v Buck Quartermaine & Butch Long. Decent Bloods showcase. Jeeves now with Blue Bloods. Really haven't been doing much.
Ric Flair promo on Starrcade. Back in the title picture the way it was meant to be. Good stuff
WCW World TV Title Johnny B. Badd v Disco Inferno. Good competitive match with Disco getting a lot. Badd wins.
Hugh Morrus squash. One Man Gang with Hugh Morrus
Nasty Boys v Super Assassins. Decent brawl. Double countout.
Sting promo. Shades. No facepaint. So many upcoming matches.
Zodiac squash
Eddie Guerrero v Big Bubba. Good David vs Goliath type match. They work the size difference well. Crowd chanting for Eddie. Bubba hits a massive gutwrench power bomb. Bubba DQ’d for over the top rope. These two had good chemistry.
Lex Luger promo. Hits key points on starrcade
December 11, 1995 WCW Nitro #15 - Charlotte, NC
Eddie Guerrero vs. Mr. JL. Fun all action match that was missing last week. Crisp flying. Good suplexes. Eddie wins and continues to get over.
Gene interviews Lex Luger & Jimmy Hart. Shots fired at Savage. Owns him. May best man win with Sting
Mr. Wonderful vs. Disco Inferno. Solid. Orndorff wins.
Gene interviews the Horsemen. Flair, Arn, Pillman. Pillman said Hogan wanted to be a Horseman but couldn't handle darkside. Pillman talking about all people that aren’t Horsemen material. Orndorff storms back out to call Pillman a punk. Pillman is GREAT in this role as shit disturber. Paul nails him but gets a beatdown! Spike piledriver on concrete!! Stretchered out. Recommended.
WCWSN: Badd v Pillman
Lex Luger vs. Jim Duggan. Lex wins with the rack which gets a huge pop. WCW fans love the Torture Rack.
Gene interviews World Champ Randy Savage on upcoming itinerary. Giant title defense next week
Hulk Hogan & Sting vs. The Four Horsemen (Arn Anderson & Ric Flair). Good match. Sell the possible Hogan and Sting issue all show. This is Horsemen country. Hogan comes out late with a funny look on his face. Lots of boos. Hogan sucks chants. Sting mostly gets cheers but even he gets some boos here. Very rare. Arn wants Hogan. Flair gets a huge pop when he comes in but he plays the heel anyway. Luger sneaks out and Racks Hogan on the outside. Very funny visual. Sting’s left on his own but Hogan finally gets the hot tag and beats Arn. Pillman comes in but Luger pulls him off of Sting. Sting helps Hogan and Lex leaves. Savage comes in. Sting decks him! Savage slaps Sting.
Gene’s in to get answers again. Love that aspect. Savage hates Luger. Sting hit him in the heat of battle. Hogan backs Sting up. Savage tells them to take a chill pill. All on the same page to end it.
Announcers hype up Savage v Giant next week
Good show this week. The formula with the one action packed match and the main eventers interacting is a winner.
December 16, 1995 WCW Worldwide
Tony & Bobby hyping up Starrcade
Jushin Thunder Liger squash
One Man Gang v Cobra. OMG squash.
Johnny B. Badd interview on Starrcade. honored to wrestle Mr Saito. Kimberly is free to do her own thing.
Eddie Guerrero squash
Mr Wonderful v Disco Inferno. Quick squash for Orndorff.
Johnny B. Badd and Kimberly video. Horse and carriage. Kim enjoying her new life.
Mr. JL v Koji Kanemoto. Good real match that breaks out. Even Disney has to acknowledge it. JL hits a massive power bomb. Koji wins.
Randy Savage interview on Starrcade. Facing Tenzan. Challenged ElevenZan but he didn't accept. BUSTING LOOSE. GOOD. FUNNY.
Super Assassins v State Patrol. Fun match. Not a squash. Super Assassins hit a cool suplex spear combo move. Win with Demolition Decapitation.
December 16, 1995 WCW Saturday Night
Disco Inferno v Joey Maggs. Solid professional match. Teddy Long is with Joey and he’s now Jumpin’ Joey Maggs. He gets an entrance and has a ring jacket. Maggs gets the win. Post-match interview putting over Joey. Teddy gave him newfound confidence. Disco comes over after and tries to sell him his CDs. Disco’s amusing.
Sonny Onoo announces the New Japan team and previews the World Cup of Wrestling. Not needed to sell this.
Alex Wright v Bunkhouse Buck. Decent. Wright looks good here but they never really followed up on his push. Parker slips Buck an object. Sherri kisses Parker. Buck gets rolled up.
Ric Flair promo on Starrcade. Eleven stars on his door. Unparalleled. Runs down all cities in the world that the real world champion has not done. Two decades of excellence. VERY GOOD. Love it when Flair goes in this mode of serious big ime athlete.
Kurasawa squash.
Eddie Guerrero v Jerry Lynn. Really good match that gets time. Jerry’s double dipping as himself and Mr. JL. Dusty really likes Eddie. Lots of matwork in this. Dusty sends a shoutout to Cody. Tony’s kids love Eddie too. Lots of submissions and grappling. It escalates well. Eddie hurts his knee on a leapfrog and Lynn capitalizes. Lynn uses the Texas Cloverleaf before Malenko. Eddie wins with the frog splash, selling the leg the whole time. Quality professional wrestling. Post-match interview. Eddie is such a good guy here. Going to give it 100% like his father taught him.
WCW TV Title Johnny B Badd v Brian Pillman. Decent match that gets time as well. Pillman’s gotten himself in better shape again. Arn in for a DQ. Attacks Johnny’s arm.
Lex Luger squash. Gene interviews all the former world champs. Flair has always been a thorn in his side. Lex so wound up! People have eaten their own friends to survive. Very good fun promo. Lex is killing this run.
Sting interview. Mixed emotions heading into Starrcade.
Sting v Sgt Craig Pittman. Ok basic match. Sting wins.
World Champ Randy Savage interview with Gene. Killer outfit. Facing Giant on Nitro. Some talk of a video tape and Hogan.
There are more competitive matches happening. Perhaps it’s the expanded roster and the types of talent that want to have these real matches.
December 18, 1995 WCW Prime
Super Assassins squash
December 18, 1995 WCW Nitro #16 - Augusta, GA
Announcers hype up the show. Madusa shows up with the WWF Women's Title. Drops it in the trash. In WCW now. Move on quickly. William Perry shows up. Heenan doesn't say anything. Just wants to move on.
Eddie Guerrero vs. Ric Flair. Good match that gets time. Flair is getting a World Title match next week. Eddie showing more personality but gets some boos versus Flair in Georgia. Eddie misses a dive and hurts his knee. A common turning point in his matches. Flair’s dialed in. He uses the ropes on the Figure 4 and Eddie passes out to the pain.
Gene comes into the ring to get comments from Flair and Arn. They’ve taken out Orndorff, Badd and Guerrero. Taskmaster and Jimmy Hart come out. Sullivan respects them but they have “loose cannon” on their ship. Upset at Pillman for mocking them last week. Wants Arn to keep Pillman on a short leash. Arn says if comes looking for Pillman, he might just find them. Good start to the Sullivan/Pillman storyline.
Sgt Craig Pittman is looking for a manager
Marcus Alexander Bagwell vs. Lex Luger. Luger wins a short match with the Rack. Post-match interview. Lex is the uncrowned World Champion. Had Macho in the rack and pinned.
WCWSN: Arn v Badd, VK v Wright, Pittman v Cobra, Luger, Sting.
Sting vs. Earl Robert Eaton. Fun match. Sting talking to himself coming out to watch his step on the ramp and that Starrcade is on Wednesday not Tuesday. Sting wins a short match with the Scorpion. Kids running down to the barricade to see him after. Post-match interview. Talks about eggnog and Starrcade. Wants to be six time World Champ.
WCW World Heavyweight Title Randy Savage (c) vs. The Giant. Fun match. Savage knows how to work against a giant. Stick and move. The most comfortable Giant has looked. He misses a splash and Savage his the elbow for a great nearfall. Get the crowd buzzing. Giant hits a choke slam and a legdrop but Hogan comes in with a chair for the DQ. Crowd goes nuts for all the chairshots. Mongo and Perry try to calm down Hulk. Crowd backing Hogan for a change. Savage looked pretty weak here as champ.
Gene out to get comments from Hogan and Savage. Hogan complained about everyone on probation getting title matches except him. Giant out screaming Hogan. Hogan with more chairshots. An ass kicking babyface Hogan gets cheers more than all the nonsense he'd been doing. Hogan says his name is on the belt. Savage owes him a title shot. Now he gets boos. Agree to face after Starrcade.
Another strong Nitro
December 23, 1995 WCW Worldwide
Tony and Bobby in Christmas mood
Lex Luger squash
Chris Benoit interview on Starrcade
Shinjiro Otani squash.
Starrcade Control Center with Mark Robertson. Canadian Gene!
Sting squash
WCW TV Champ Johnny B Badd squash
Kensuke Sasaki & Sonny Onoo interview. Doing a gimmick where Sasaki won't defend title on American soil
WCW US Champ Kensuke Sasaki v Mr JL. Solid. Mostly extended squash for Sasaki.
Heenan gets a Christmas gift for Tony. Says don't open it now. Empty box. "Tony we've been robbed!" FUNNY BIT
December 23, 1995 WCW Saturday Night
American Males v Men At Work. Good match. Chris Kanyon and Mark Starr repackaged as a team. Have lots of tag moves. Get most of the match. Males win.
WCW TV Title Johnny B Badd v Arn Anderson. Good match. Badd’s all taped up from last week and fighting defensively. Eddie cuts an inset promo hyping up Johnny. He wins with the punch! Post-match interview on facing Saito at Starrcade.
Maxx Muscle squash. Gene interview on DDP turning on him. Tells him to be worried
Alex Wright v VK Wallstreet. Decent about 5 minutes. Big Bubba comes out. Wright wins with a roll up.
Randy Savage quick interview on Starrcade and Flair.
Taskmaster squash
Disco Inferno promo. Hyping his CD
Cobra v Sgt Craig Pittman. Solid. Get some time. Keep it simple. Pittman wins.
Lex Luger v Chris Nelson. Fun. Mostly an extended squash for Lex but he gives the kid a few hope spots. Lex racks him. Post-match interview. Dominance never seen before. Flair can't escape. Brothers fight. Good stuff
Ric Flair promo runs down the history of Starrcade. An event because Flair wanted a shot at Race. In 93 he beat Vader. Good hype.
December 24, 1995 WCW Main Event
Diamond Dallas Page v Maxx Muscle. Not much. DDP sells and bumps around a lot. Wins with Diamond Cutter.
December 25, 1995 WCW Nitro #17 - Augusta, GA (taped)
Lex Luger vs. Scotty Riggs. Fun again. Riggs gets a few dropkicks and a forearm. Luger bails yelling that he can’t believe he’d do that on national TV to him. Lex wins with the rack.
Gene interviews Sting about what's up with Luger? Sting is tired of being asked that question. Luger is his friend and he's trying to straighten him out.
Sting vs. Big Bubba Rogers. Solid hard fought match. Sting wins with a roll up. Crazy how different promotion feels from when they had their feud earlier in the year.
Lex Luger interview. Gene in Santa hat. Uncrowned champ. Craig Pittman approaches Jimmy Hart to be his manager. Jimmy makes him take his shirt off and mocks him
Dean Malenko vs. Mr. JL. Good little match. Mostly a showcase for Dean. His super gutbuster pops the crowd.
Ric Flair interview with Gene. Jimmy Hart out. Owes Flair one and is willing to pay back his debt. Wants to manage him tonight. Flair accepts.
WCW World Heavyweight Title Randy Savage (c) vs. Ric Flair. Pretty good. Long match. Savage still with taped up arm. Jimmy Hart getting some shots in. Not the most heated of their matches. Flair attacks the arm. Savage had put Flair in the Figure 4 early to dissuade Flair from going for it. Heats up in back half. Savage’s mouth gets bloodied. Luger attacks Savage for the DQ. Quite long for the finish. Savage and Luger fight. Sting out. Flair attacks him. Sting takes out Flair. Sting and Savage shove. Smack each other. Go face to face heading into Starrcade. The TV is interesting but it’s a bit messy for a PPV build.
Not really a great Starrcade build all in all.
December 27, 1995 WCW Starrcade - World Cup Of Wrestling - Nashville, TN
Opening is pretty cool without all the stereotypical stuff. Tony, Bobby and Dusty on the call
Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Chris Benoit (World Cup Of Wrestling). Electric opener. Very crisp. Intense. Pack in their best stuff. Benoit hits the headbutt. Sullivan out yelling about Horsemen. Liger gets the win.
Eddie Guerrero interview. Upset at Sullivan costing WCW. Humble happy to be here. Nervous babyface Eddie is very funny
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Koji Kanemoto (c) vs. Alex Wright (World Cup Of Wrestling). Another good match. Koji works the leg. Gets the win. NJPW up 2-0.
Sonny Onoo interview
Lex Luger vs. Masahiro Chono (World Cup Of Wrestling). Decent. Lex gets a good pop despite being a heel. Short match. Lex gets rack for win. Big pop for it.
Sting interview with Gene. WCW is coming on strong. Revenge vs Sasaki.
Johnny B. Badd vs. Masa Saito (World Cup Of Wrestling). Fun match. Kim is doing cartwheels and such now. Johnny gets a good pop. Kim’s energy works well with Badd’s. Saito’s theme is incredible. There’s some unfortunate mic work between Sonny Onoo and Kim. Another short match. Saito rules. Badd wins via over the top DQ. 2-2.
WCW SuperBrawl promo promising World Title match and Hogan. Seem to be implying Hogan/Savage based on build
Lex Luger interview. 2-2. Luger shifts focus onto triangle match. Gotta go it alone this one time
Eddie Guerrero vs. Shinjiro Otani (World Cup Of Wrestling). Very good. Get lots of time. We get to see the full range of what both are capable of. This is probably one of the best matches that the audience doesn’t care about. Otani’s nose gets bloodied. Roll up counter, Otani wins.
Macho Man interview. In the zone.
Randy Savage vs. Tenzan (World Cup Of Wrestling). Solid. Macho wins with the elbow to a huge pop. 3-3.
Heenan does a hilarious bit where he's facing the wrong way and dropping his papers. Schiavone cracks. Dusty too. Gene too
Ric Flair int. Puts over World Cup.
Sting vs. Kensuke Sasaki (World Cup Of Wrestling). Good shorter match. Sasaki gets the jump. Puts Sting in the Scorpion. Sting powers out. Crowd is hot for the finale. Sting wins with the Scorpion and the crowd erupts. WCW wins the World Cup.
Gene presents the trophy to the team. Savage leaves when Luger comes in. Heenan is so funny. "Do I have to give the Lexus back?"
Sting vs. Lex Luger vs. Ric Flair - World Title Shot Triangle Match. This was good as well. Maybe too long. Flair and Sting start and neither wants to tag Luger. He’s frozen out. Sting and Flair work their usual good match. Sting has it won but Lex comes in. First hint of tension between the two. Luger tags himself in and Flair’s begging off. Now Flair and Lex play their hits a bit. Flair’s worked the whole match. Flair takes out Luger’s knee. Enjoying how they’re working this. It’s not so nearfall heavy where it makes the guy on the apron look bad. Lex walks through Flair and he has to tag out to Sting. Wants them to fight which is funny. They shake hands and get booed! These fans don’t want sportsmanship! Sting gets rolling and Luger calls for time. Sting goes for the Scorpion on Flair, Luger sneaks in a low blow. Ref bump. Luger racks Sting. Flair takes out Luger’s knee. Flair throws Sting onto Luger. The ref counts them both out and Luger prevents Sting from breaking the count. Flair advances. Luger claims his knee is hurt and he wanted Sting’s help. He’s hilarious.
WCW World Heavyweight Title Randy Savage (c) vs. Ric Flair. Decent main. Jimmy Hart is in Flair’s corner. Macho’s arm is still hurt which is why they probably did all of this. Orndroff watches on in his neckbrace. They loved people in the aisle watching on. Flair goes after the bad arm. Jimmy distracts the ref. Savage nails Flair with the megaphone. Flair’s bleeding A LOT. Pillman gets thrown into Benoit. Arn knocks out Savage. Flair’s on top and fans jump up and down for the title change. What a whirlwind year to get back to Flair as World Champion. This was all serviceable. Not sure how Flair bled that much that fast.
Overall a fun concept but they didn’t need to reuse so many guys in multiple matches.
December 30, 1995 WCW Worldwide
1995 Year In Review
Badd v Pittman
Taskmaster and Jimmy Hart interview on Jan Clash. Taskmaster is gonna be facing Disco. Dark night and dark alley. Who would you rather be? Seem to have dropped Dungeon of Doom silliness
Heat v Nastys
Mr Wonderful v Savage
Buck & Slater v Blue Bloods
Disco Inferno interview on facing Taskmaster. Shake your booty tour 96
Sting v Arn
December 30, 1995 WCW Pro
American Males v State Patrol. Fun match. Classic clubberin. Males win. Wish this got more time.
Hugh Morrus squash
Scott & Steve Armstrong squash
Sister Sherri interview. Craig Pittman wants her as manager. She says no
WCW TV Title Johnny B Badd v Dean Malenko. Decent. Dusty hyped for this. Malenko slows him down by going to the knee. Crowd gets into the simple story. Malenko gets DQ’d. Have a good match in them.
Ric Flair & Arn Anderson v Barrio Brothers. Flair & Arn squash.
December 30, 1995 WCW Saturday Night
Best of 1995